Many types of surgery are performed on the human body, including hip replacement surgery. During such procedures, it is known to use the retractor assemblies in order to hold soft tissue in a position that permits the position to access the surgical area. In one common practice, a single retractor, or a number of retractors, will each be manually supported by an assistant. In these systems, the assistant will hold the retractor in position, and may apply a force against the soft tissue at the same time. In the case of relatively complex procedures such as hip replacement surgery, it may be necessary to use two or even a larger number of separate retractors, which may necessitate two or more assistants to manually operate the retractors. This may at some times be somewhat cumbersome.